The Berger Flip-Off

There's a scene in season six of Sex and the City when Jack Berger (Carrie's boyfriend at the time) gives his answering machine two middle fingers while his ex-girlfriend is leaving a message on it. He lifts one hand, then the other and says, "Fuck you and FUCK you!"

When you're really mad at something, doing a Berger Flip-Off is about the most satisfying thing you can do. It makes you feel good because you've let off some steam, which sometimes only a Fuck can do. But it also makes you laugh because it's so dang funny. Try it sometime, it works.

This weekend while struggling with my awkward double stroller in the freezing, pouring rain, I did the Berger Flip-Off in the direction of the sky, careful to hide it from Harrison. It worked. I gave the rain a piece of my mind and went on with my cold, solo afternoon with the kids.

Don't get me wrong, I normally love the rain. It cleans the air, makes our beautiful city green, is an important part of the ecosystem, blah blah blah. But when you're a parent of two small children and you're laboring to get through January, it takes on a different meaning. It means we become progressively more insane the longer it rains.

But there just isn't much you can do. We have memberships to the Children's Museum, the Science Center, the Aquarium and the Museum of Flight, but none of them adequately replace a little kid's need to be outside. Kids don't care if it's cold. They don't even care if it's raining and cold. They're just glad to be outside instead of in a dark, stuffy house.

So after I cursed the rain I thought, if this isn't bothering the kids in the least, why am I letting it bother me so much? Why is it so hard for me follow their example when I need to the most? So that's what got me through the afternoon. A little attitude change and a Berger Flip-Off. You do what you need to do.